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The venerable Pump Room Restaurant in Chicago is once again a beacon of civilized living. Famously memorialized in the Frank Sinatra song ‘Chicago’, the ‘jumping Pump Room’ was one of the first true fine dining establishments to open in the Windy City at the end of Prohibition. Almost immediately, it became a favorite of celebrities including the biggest stars in entertainment history–Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr, Jackie Gleason, Dean Martin, Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Ronald Reagan and Marilyn Monroe is just a very small list of the icons that made it a regular hangout. In the later part of the 20th century, however, it sort of fell off the map as a new wave of gourmet restaurants in the Windy City led by Charlie Trotter reduced it to a historical footnote.

The Pump Room opened in 1938 under the ownership and management of Ernie Blyfield. Blyfield’s inspiration for the name and ambiance of his restaurant was an 18th Century London pub frequented by celebrities and nobility, including Queen Anne. The ‘Pump Room’ moniker came from the hot drinks ‘pumped’ into the cocktails of its customers.

The Chicago Pump Room was an immediate hit, and for a time its Booth #1 may have been the most sought after table at any dining establishment in the country. In addition to Sinatra, who frequently held court with Jilly Rizzo and a number of other associates in Booth 1, it was occupied at various times by Clark Gable, John Barrymore, Gertrude Lawrence, Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Liza Minnelli may have been the youngest Booth 1 regular, taken there many times during her childhood by her mother Judy Garland.

After Blyfield’s death in 1950, the Pump Room lived on as a Chicago hot spot and welcomed a new era of big names including Mel Brooks, Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Eddie Murphy. One of the most famous stories surrounding the club involves former Genesis drummer Phil Collins, who was refused entry for not wearing a jacket. This inspired the title of his next album ‘No Jacket Required’ which has sold over 14 million copies worldwide and established Collins as a solo superstar. Following its release, the Pump Room sent Collins an apology–and an appropriate jacket for him to wear on his next visit.

Since being purchased by the Dallas Restaurant Group in the late 1990s, things are hopping again, however. With the extremely talented chef Martial Noguier at the helm (who has worked in the kitchen of a number of Frances most renown chefs), and a $2 million dollar restoration of the facilities, the Pump Room is back among the rarefied heights of Chicagos best restaurants. Though the flaming food served on a sword that was the Pump Room trademark during its golden era is sadly absent (due to city fire codes), the menu is now up to snuff serving Noguiers sophisticated interpretation of classic American cuisine. In addition to the revamped cuisine, the Pump Room upgraded its wine offering and expanded the bar area.

Today, current Executive Chef Nick Sutton continues the restaurant’s tradition of culinary excellence. The most amazing thing about the restaurant, however, remains the almost palpable sense of history that the dining room affords. Sitting in the same room where icons of American culture from Sinatra to Bogart held court is an intoxicating experience in itself. Chef Sutton has maintained the quality of the Pump Room’s food and service to the high level worthy of the legends that have dined there.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Daniel Scott
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If you are the owner of a Fazioli piano, you are in possession of a very high quality musical instrument. With the best of care, your Fazioli piano will last a lifetime, and then some, but it`s important that you treat it right. Never, ever attempt to do any maintenance yourself. It might appear like a relatively simple thing to do, a slight adjustment, but you can do serious damage to the piano by attempting to work on it yourself.

General Care There are a few common sense rules to follow when handling your piano. Keeping it protected from extreme temperatures is a given, you`ll want your piano to be kept in a room or studio where the temperature is constant and humidity is low. Direct sunlight will not only fade your piano, but can cause problems with the tuning. Using curtains to protect your investment is a good idea.

Avoid use of cleansers when cleaning the piano. A feather duster will help remove dust without scratching the finish, after which a cloth may be used to wipe it down. Your piano dealer may have specific recommendations regarding the cleaning of the piano, so be sure to ask. Make sure to use different cleaning cloths for the keys, one for white keys and one for the black keys to keep things neat and unspoiled. Again, no cleaners should be used unless your Fazioli dealership suggests one that is safe for use on the piano.

Specialized Care Your Fazioli piano is a delicate instrument and requires a certified professional to work on it. Make sure you only hire someone with experience in this particular brand of piano, since they will be familiar with the subtleties that make a Fazioli produce its high quality sound. To find a certified technician, you can speak to the dealership where you purchased the piano. They will most likely offer the service themselves or they will be able to refer you to someone who will do the job correctly.

Whether or not your piano is used regularly, you`ll need to have it tuned twice a year. This will help prevent warping and the technician can inspect for any other damage during the tuning, as well. Since a piano becomes out of tune slowly over time, our ears tend to adapt and we don`t notice that the sound is off until it is drastically so. Having regular tunings will ensure that your piano always sounds its best. The action and voicing of the Fazioli piano should be checked once a year. This will require a professional, as well. This is an area that requires specialized care and attention to ensure that your piano stays in perfect condition. Only an expert will have the right tools and expertise for the job, so don`t attempt to do it yourself.

Most of looking after your piano is simply common sense. Things like keeping food and liquids away from your precision musical instrument is something that everyone should know already. You may also want to cover the piano with a drop cloth when not in use to protect it from dust which can scratch the fine finish, as well as get inside and cause issues with the soundboard. By looking after your Fazioli piano, protecting it from potential problems and ensuring that it is regularly maintained by a certified profession, you`ll be able to use your piano for decades and perhaps even pass it on to your descendents, still in great condition. Talk to your dealer about any special care tips before you buy and then follow them for the best results.

Tags: Music by A Nutt
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There are some really awesome landscaping software programs out there that will help you in designing a backyard that you could only dream about, but there are also some programs out there that are complete and total waste of your hard-earned dollars. You need to find out which landscaping software program is a goodbye before you go out and spend any cash on one.

There are a lot of software programs for landscaping on the market today that anybody can purchase which are truly horrible. Some of the programs are absolutely terrible, and buying them is a pure waste of money. The graphics will be absolutely horrible and look like cartoons that aren’t clear, and won’t help you in any way. If you spend a little bit of money through, and look into the more expensive commercial grade landscaping software programs, you’ll find some that will absolutely astound you with their capabilities.

One thing that you really need to be aware of when you are planning on using a landscape software program, is that it is only a tool to help you shape your ideas into reality, it’s not something that’s going to magically do it for you. So if you are wanting to buy some landscaping software so that you can have your yard designed for you then do not even bother.On the other hand though, if you have some fantastic ideas that you want to see laid out on paper or on screen, then a landscaping software program will be absolutely right for you.

Before you buy any landscaping software program, you should try to get a demonstration of the product first. By having a demonstration you will be able to see whether the program can assist you in what you are wanting to achieve. You should try to choose a landscaping software program that has good graphics. The better the graphics are on your landscaping software the easier it will be for you to visualize the end result of all your hard work. This is truly the goal of any landscaping software program. If the landscaping software is crap then you might be better off using the drawing programs that are already on your computer.

By previewing the landscaping software programs, you will be able to get a feel for the different levels of qualities for the different prices and know what to expect.Without the comparison, you wouldn’t know if there were two completely similar products for completely different prices, and you wouldn’t really make the wisest financial decision of buying a cheaper one with all the same bells and whistles as the more expensive one. So make sure you do some smart shopping.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Frank Froggatt
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If you’ve gone and convinced yourself, that you need a SLR camera, then I hope you really enjoy learning a bunch of technical lingo. Because the science of SLR is full of a whole bunch of new terms, features, and gadget wizardry. For some, that’s half the fun. I know, as I’m one of those.

You can change the lenses on your digital SLR camera when you need to, so the photos you take have an increased quality. You can use lenses designed for telephoto, wide-angle, portrait, or any other modes.

Bigger is better in this situation, but it also means a bigger price. The camera you want might be expensive now, but with the technology that advances so quickly, the price goes down every year.

So, don’t worry, you will get a good SLR with pretty much any camera these days. I’d stick with the major brands, and reputable retailer to hedge your bet. The best prices are still online, and the big online stores are as good or better than local stores with their return policies. Online buying is not just for price comparisons anymore. Olympus, Nikon, or canon are all reliable choices these days. For under a grand, you’ll find a lot of entry level SLRs to choose from. The Canon Rebel line-up with the XT, XTi, XSi, XS, and soon to be release T1i are definitely worth a look.

The third thing you should look for is the size of the digital camera. If you want to do professional photography you will have to go for the bulkier, larger models, not to mention more expensive.

In many cases, this can be something good, as a 200mm lens becomes as good as a 300mm, which is much more expensive. But, in other cases, a 24mm wide lens would turn in a 36mm, and the photographer might not want that.

Technical specs are good for narrowing down your short list of cameras, but the final camera choice you make should be based on personal experience. How does the camera feel in your hands, is more important than burst mode, ISO quality or the size of the image sensor.

Once you find the camera model that you want to buy, look around to see if you can get an extended warranty. You don’t want to break or lose your digital camera, so some extra insurance can’t hurt.

There are many other manufacturers that are going to launch SLR cameras that are fully integrated with lenses and they will work by getting the image on the sensor directly, instead of using an angle.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Chris Campbell
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An important character of Transformers that completes the existence of Devastator is Mixmaster. Yes, he is the same character that has the ability to produce acid by mixing various chemical components. His acid can be used very effectively, so he has an intellectual power in addition to the physical power. His skills let him make any thing by using anything, living or nonliving. Nothing can come between his experimental purposes, until he accomplished them.

Being an imperative personality, Mixmaster is expected by his enthusiasts to show his existence in Transformers 2. He has always been the chum and ally of Long Haul by making left leg of Devastator. Beforehand, we have seen Mixmaster in purple plus in green colours. Let us see what shade he is going to have in Transformer: Revenge of the Fallen. Most possibly, it is going to be silver and black.

Like Long Haul, he is as well created by tremor. He then had a knack to transform into a cement truck – or you can say cement mixing bulldozer. As it has been told previously, he can generate acid; the acid he produces can flame even steel doors. He can in addition produce a smoke screen, which is also very destructive and can burn anything. After preparing a mixture, he can transfer it through his hand that can be changed into a pouring tool. In Transformers 2, he is going to show his presence in the form of a concrete mixer tank.

Mixmaster’s eating habits are very strange as he loves to drink oil. He is often in a funny mood, and whistles when he sees red hot cars. His accent resembles Brookyn’s. He is much more aggressive, a control freak, and selfish when compared to other characters.

Being a strong minded character, he is going to be the head of Devastator. Maybe it’s because of his intellectual skills and rational approach that he is chosen to be the main part of Devastator. Like always, in this upcoming movie he is going to accompany Long Haul in finding Megatron’s body from under the deep sea. This is the point of devastation for the Autobots. They were thinking that they had bestowed the world with peace by killing Megatron forever. But, on the other hand, Mixmaster was busy finding his apparently dead master to make his survival possible in any case.

Autobots are contented after defeating their foe, although they do not identify that they have now ended a little clash on the visage of the world. They do not know that the real fight is just about to start on. This fight will not be the fight for earth, but rather it will be a fight for the universe that will be much more vicious, with much more powerful enemies.

Mixmaster is surely going to play a major role in defeating the enemy, but whether he is going to succeed in his mission or whether once again his team has to face defeat is still a mystery.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Michael Nielsen
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In the printing profession there is a new process called CTP, which stands for computer to plate. It is one aspect of the prepress process and involves the prepress equipment called an imagesetter. The older technology was known as CTF, or computer to film. In the computer to film process, the print job goes from the bits and bytes in the computer directly onto photographic film. The image then goes from the film to the photographic plate so that the results can be printed. The computer to plate process eliminates the middle step and transfers the image created in the desktop publishing program directly to the printing plate. obviously, when an entire operation is eliminated, efficiency goes up and costs go down.

But what does it take to convert from CTF to CTP? It takes an upgraded infrastructure and a redesigned workflow. In designing this new work flow, the central focus needs to be on preventing bottlenecks in the process and keep the process moving smoothly. But the infrastructure is just as important. Remembering back to when you first bought your computer system, you may expect that purchasing a new system will break your bank. However, this may not be true. These days, the prices of new desktop computers have decreased significantly, making this purchase more in line with what you can afford. In addition, the increased speed of new computers will raise the efficiency of your shop noticeably. As time passes, the new computers will seem to pay for themselves as you are able to increase throughput. Looking back, you will see your old system for what it was: a large, heavy paperweight, weighing it down.

But lets go back to the work flow issue. How can CTP technology streamline your work flow? Here are some ways:

The first area is job acceptance and preflighting. This step involves checking the customers files to make sure that the fonts and graphics are structured according to the customers requirements.

The next area is image acquisition. Is any scanning or digital photography work required? This step might include color correction, file format conversion, and other image manipulation.

Next comes the step of prepress operations. This phase involves preparing the work so that it is compatible with your specific press type.

Electronic imposition is a vital part of the prepress operation. It involves bringing together the actual page files and imposing them onto the printing flats and sending them to the raster image processor.

As you near the end of the process, you need to be able to create proofs. The proofing step is essential because it guarantees the accuracy of the final product.

The final step is a sort of a finishing-up process that manages the files and the databases to ensure that everything is archived correctly.

This may seem like a complex process, but you must remember that that big middle step has been eliminated. If you streamline your printing process and convert to CTP, you wont see just a return on your investment (ROI). You will ensure your ability to remain in business (RIB).

Tags: Writing & Speaking by Chuck R Stewart
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When you are looking for waterproof digital cameras, you might look at the Olympus Stylus 790 SW. The camera only gets a few rave reviews, but it does take some great pictures in any weather condition and underwater as far down as ten feet. The 790 SW is also shockproof, which is something that most people look for in a camera. The shock proof does have limitations.

Compare digital cameras for megapixels and all the features. The Nikon has some a low noise level with a variety of features with fast performance.

The Nikon does not come with the raw editor so you would have to purchase that separately. The flash is 1/200 of a second. The D80 has 10.2 megapixels and a two and a half inch viewing screen.

The Casio digital cameras reviews also include one about the Exilim Zoom EX-Z750. This camera has excellent features, settings and quality images.

The viewing screen gives you a sneak preview of the images you are taking and the camera is compact and easy to take anywhere.

With all the positive reviews that Casio digital cameras receive, you would be wise to try anyone of the models that Casio makes. The ease of use and the quality images are what make the cameras superior to most.

You can compare waterproof digital cameras to find the one that will work the best for your needs.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Chris Campbell
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The best point and shoot digital camera is the one that will take quality pictures in auto mode without a need to adjust the aperture and shutter speed. The camera will also have an automatic white mode, which will eliminate a necessary understanding about setting the color balance when shooting outdoors or indoors.

The camera will be compact and not bulky. It will come with complete instructions on how to use it and take perfect pictures. The best camera will have an affordable price. It will be easy to use for a beginner as well as an advanced user.

Red eye problems should really be a thing of the past in any camera over $200 these days. It seems, that the S5 digital camera, doesn’t employ even the most basic red eye preventative tactics (pre-flash) in the red eye battle. The S5 does come with red eye reduction software built it, but it’s less than stellar. Depending on the viewing angle of your subject, it may or may not remove the red eye artifact successfully.

The Rebel XT has 8 megapixels and a DIGIC II image processor. The camera is compatible with more than fifty of the EF lenses. The XT is compact and lightweight and has easy to use features from the menu display.

A few other issues with the Powershot S5 include. Conspicuously absent auto focus assist. No RAW or TIFF mode for the after photo editing fans. Gobbles up four double AA batteries at a time. An old fashioned lens cap (sure to be lost, or left on).

The larger screen takes up the backside of the camera and provides a crisp and clear picture. The camera does have image stabilization, which means that you cannot have a blurry picture just because you shake a little when trying to shoot the subject. This is the best digital camera for the price.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Chris Campbell
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You can always think of so much of stuff to make people buy more of your goods. Sometimes, ideas just crop into your head, and oftentimes they do not. That is why you turn to the internet for information on these. I mean, seriously, there are a whole lot of gimmicks you can do to draw in the customer. It’s as easy as one two three.

Gimmick number 1, the use of gifts after every purchase. This is an especially good tactic for those who have items that sell well over a thousand dollars. A painting for example, would do well with a complementary wooden frame for it. Or, what about metal works and sculptures? A buy one – take one deal would sound nice. Just be wary about giving away too much free stuff at once. Giving away items (especially the ones that you are selling) would downgrade the value of your product in the customer’s eyes (especially the buy-one take-one deal). This doesn’t apply to food products of course. Customers will always welcome a double your buy deal anytime when it comes to perishables.

Gimmick two, establish relationships with other craftsmen and artisans in the fair. Most of the time, two artisans would find their works quite complementary with each other and would like to learn from one another. This would mean a lot for both of you because a) you would be sharing tricks of the trade; b) you will be able to compare and rate your product against potential competitors in the same business field and c) an ally would always be more beneficial than an enemy.

Having a competitor ups the standards of your product (without you knowing it). You get to see ideas you wouldn’t possibly have thought of in your own time. Try and be civil with them. Relate if you can. Give your contact number and do a little chatting outside the trade grounds. Sooner or later, competition can turn into partnership. And partnerships, when both parties do their best, are good things to have in this competitive world.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Ian Kleine
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Are you wondering if it’s really true that you can copy games? Well, it is true. Do you need to know how to do it? First of all, you need to know how to mod your current gaming system. There are plenty of ways to mod each system and a lot of them need hard moded in order to play burnt games, because of copyright violations. You will learn how to copy games by the end of this article. Is that what you want? Prepare yourself for some top-secret advice.

In order to get copied video games to play on your modded video game system, you need to know about burning an image file. On the Internet, you will find many different websites you can go to in order to download the ISO image.

We advise you to never use CD-RW’s because they are in a different format and won’t read on your gaming system. Burning games like the playstation 2 or X box will require a DVD-R and you will also need a DVD burner.

You can find many ISO’s of the games through plenty of websites or even through bit torrent. If you don’t like using a shareware program, then you will be able to use a torrent program that will allow you to download the game you want through faster connection servers. Once you get the ISO on your computer, you need to find a burning program that can burn an ISO as an image. The Image can tell the system you’re playing that it’s a game and not a data CD. You might have a moded Playstation 2 that can play burned CD’s through Magic swap, but if you don’t burn a image to the CD it won’t work.

If you’re looking to find a way to copy an image from your game on your computer, you need to use a program that can convert the files into one image. You will find many programs that allow you to burn images or even create an image. The video game needs an image to be burned in order for it to work properly.

To burn the ISO, you need to click burn image. Once you click on that, you will need to follow the directions. Finding the file won’t be hard if you have organized the ISO files. Burning the image will be done soon after accepting the right CD burner. After that, you will have a burned game copied on disc. You can copy the same CD easily by using Nero.

When you place a Playstation game onto your computer, it will come up as a bunch of folders that are ready to be burned. You will have to go through the image-maker, such as Nero or Alcohol in order to make them a ISO image.

You can use Bit torrent or shareware programs to find ISO’s at your own risk. You will need to download the ISO and go from there. How to copy games is quite easy. A great video game system to use is the dreamcast, because it does not need modding in order to play burned games. Take note that those individuals who sell these copied games are at risk of being prosecuted.

Tags: Arts & Entertainment by Dana Goldberg
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